When I was a student, I attended an event for ministers that focused on preaching. I had served for a year as a licensed minister before entering seminary, and thus I had some experience preparing weekly sermons. At that point, I was a manuscript preacher, writing out all of my sermons and having a complete text in the pulpit from which I read. Being a graduate student in a seminary that took biblical scholarship seriously, I was learning the art of exegesis, focusing on a particular passage of scripture, studying the context and the meaning of the words. During one of the convocation meetings, working preachers were asked, “What is the biggest challenge in preaching for you?” There were some recognized and powerful preachers in the group, and one of them surprised me by saying, “Pitch and rhythm.”

My focus was on the academic and intellectual aspects of preaching. I gave very little thought to pitch and rhythm. That conversation, however, became a turning point for me as a preacher. I began to pay attention to how words fit together. Oral communication works only if the listener is engaged. If a sermon is dull and academic, worshipers tend to tune out and their minds wander away from the message. The convocation became, for me, the start of a lifetime of noting the difference between written and oral language. I continued to write sermons. When I started delivering sermons without notes, I went through an elaborate process of writing out a manuscript and then outlining it. In essence, I memorized the sermon and began to gain confidence in preaching with only the outline from which to preach. Eventually, I learned to leave the outline in my bible and deliver the sermon without notes. It took me years to learn that craft, and I continued to write full manuscripts. I always had a complete manuscript in hand when I officiated at a wedding or funeral. Those “once in a lifetime” events are too important for a slip in speaking. Names are important to people, and I wanted to ensure that I did not misspeak when ministering in those situations.

Sometimes, when advising younger preachers, I would share a manuscript and challenge the preacher to deliver a sermon that I had written as a way to practice delivery.

Along the way, life went on for me. We had children. I worked at summer camp and led Vacation Bible School. I developed a love of children’s books. I paid attention to which books children asked me to read over and over again. I worked on pitch and rhythm when reading aloud the words of children’s writers. I still love reading out loud to children. I’ve read that it is a critical element in brain development. I’ve read that regular reading to a child in the first five years of life has a larger impact on overall brain development than 18 years of public school. It has an effect that cannot be replicated by other media such as television or computer games.

One day last week, I was caring for our youngest grandson while his mother had an appointment. We played with toys in our living room for a few minutes, and then I started reading books to him. We have a good collection of books that children love, and I had a pile of books that I allowed him to select from to read. He chose ones that I have read to him many times before. We read “One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.” We read “I do not like them, Sam I am, I do not like green eggs and ham. Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse . . .” We read “I’m not going to get up today,” and a favorite at our house: “Go dog go!” - the book that has everything: up and down, red and yellow, green and blue, chase scenes, emergency stops, romance, and a party. The books that our grandson chooses all have rhythm and invite reading with pitch. Pitch and rhythm often are far more important to children than plot.

There are books I have read so many times that I can recite them from memory. There are books I have read so many times that the children in my life know if I have skipped a page, or even a single word. Some children’s books don’t even have a plot. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. The book features wonderful illustrations that start with bright colors that gradually fade as the story progresses. It is the story of a rabbit getting ready for bed and saying goodnight to all of the things in the bedroom: "A little toy house and a young mouse, a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush and a quiet old lady who was whispering hush.”

The book has been around for 75 years, and it wasn’t initially a popular success. The New York City Public Library didn’t carry the book until 1973, 26 years after it was published. Margaret Wise Brown had written dozens of short stories and submitted them to the New Yorker without any of them being published. She began writing children’s books and achieved modest success. Goodnight Moon sold a few thousand copies. Encouraged by its success, she went on to write over 100 books. Her style was to quickly write a story on whatever paper was available. An envelope or grocery list would do. She’d get it down in a few minutes and then spend two years or more polishing and editing the story.

Margaret Wise Brown died suddenly. She had an operation to remove a cyst, and on the day of her discharge from the hospital, she kicked her leg like a Can-Can dancer to prove to the doctor she was feeling well. That motion dislodged a blood clot, and she died instantly. She was 42 years old. In her will, she left the royalties from Goodnight Moon to the nine-year-old child of a friend. The book went on to sell over 40 million copies and remains in high demand.

I think many preachers could benefit from reading children’s books aloud. I know I’ve learned a lot about preaching from doing it. I still hear sermons from working preachers who have ignored pitch and rhythm. Sometimes when they are preaching, my mind wanders. “Hello. Hello. Do you like my hat? I do not like that hat. Goodbye. Goodbye.”